UNITED
NATIONS, June
27 -- For the
United
Kingdom's June
presidency of
the
Security
Council, the
UK came in
with class and
went out that
way as
well, in a
reception on a
penthouse
terrace over
Turtle Bay
with all
and sundry
invited.
In
the middle of
the month
there was a
fall off, for
example when
foreign
secretary William
Hague came to
the Council
ostensibly on
sexual
violence and
conflict, and
then only took
questions
about
Syria.
But
UK Ambassador
Mark
Lyall Grant,
to his credit,
held 14 media
stakeouts
during the
month,
including rare
two-a-days on
June 7, 13, 18
and 25.
Inner City
Press raised
this as a
standard to
September's
president;
we'll see.
It's not like
you have to
answer every
question that
is
asked. But why
not take them?
Usually
the
UK reception
are held at
the Deputy
Permanent
Representative's
Park Avenue
abode. This
one was chez
Consul
General, even
closer to
the UN, with a
CitiBike
rack just
outside no
less. Even so
Ban
Ki-moon came
in his
$100,000 armor
Lexus Equus, a
gift from
South
Korea, with a
big black SUV
behind it.
Security, you
know.
The S-G
is
so high
profile that
he was not
invited to the
more recent
G-8
meeting, by
the UK no
less.
(On
that, while
Inner City
Press
accurately
reported the UK's appreciated
answer to
its belated
question
regarding if
Ban had been
invited,
it
understands
that another
media was told
that the
non-invite was
because David
Cameron had
met with Ban
in May.
Whatever.
Prime
Ministers come
and go - just
ask
Australia.)
Amid
the commotion
of France's
Gerard Araud,
General
Assembly
President
Vuk Jeremic,
ECOSOC
president
Nestor Osorio
and others,
what Inner
City Press
found most
interesting
was the
increasing
skepticism
from
other
Ambassadors at
the Gulf and
Western
strategy on
Syria.
You
see how many
more countries
abstained last
time in the
GA, an
Ambassador
pointed out to
Inner City
Press. And if
they call
another
vote, they'll
get even fewer
in favor.
The
proposal
floated, there
over Turtle
Bay, was to
make war
itself a
crime, rather
than to use
the concept of
war crimes as
a political
tool against
presidents the
West ends up
not liking.
The
example of
Laurent Gbagbo
was given.
Susan Rice
denounced him,
twice
or three times
in her final
stake out. But
as another
African
ambassador
emphasized to
Inner City
Press, he had
and has a lot
of
supporters in
his country.
Should he
really be in
the Hague?
This
was in part a
product of
France
controlling
the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
for four time
in a row now.
So
Inner City
Press has a
proposal: just
as it's said
that the
Secretary
General cannot
come from a
Permanent Five
member of the
Security
Council, why
not make it
that none of
the main UN
departments --
DPKO, OCHA,
DPA, for
example -- can
go to the P5?
At least make
them
choose a
client -- who
might in turn
go rogue. Just
asking, as
they
say. Next up
in the US.
Watch this
site.
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